#gold-glove-finalists

#gold-glove-finalists

What will Raleigh do for an encore after his historic 60-homer season? Here's one way to look at it: 34 players have hit at least 50 home runs in a season, with 23 of those doing it just once. Let's assume Raleigh's true talent level isn't hitting 60 home runs, or even 50, but something less. We don't know that yet, but you probably don't want to bet on a 50-homer season.

And yet, most defensive metrics don't think the Sox are that bad, and some think they are elite. By Statcast's Fielding Run Value as presented by Baseball Savant, the Red Sox had the fifth-best defense in baseball last year. By Statcast's Fielding Run Value as presented by FanGraphs (which is apparently a slightly different thing, though I couldn't tell you how) they were the seventh-best.

Alex Bregman's departure not only opened up a hole which the front office thought it had solved in 2025, but it deepened the mystery of what we have in Marcelo Mayer. Mayer will continue to be an unknown quantity until he spends more time in the majors and proves he can stay on the field for a full season. Not only is he young and untested, but he can play second and third base as well as shortstop.

Improving the defense was important - just as important as improving the offensive output. The eye test would tell you as much. By bringing Kyle Tucker in - who, let's be real, was brought in because of his bat - the Dodgers have done that. While Tucker isn't the fleetest of foot outfielder anymore, his improvement over Teoscar Hernandez should be apparent next season.